Derry City and Strabane District Council have joined the Real Deal initiative to promote only legal sellers and goods at its markets to help prevent members of the public receiving fake goods.
Derry City and Strabane District Council operates two markets, the Walled City Market and Strabane Market, which both showcase a variety of local food produce and craft design works. Nicolle Walters, Market Development Officer at Derry City and Strabane District Council, said market traders were supportive of the Real Deal campaign and are committed, alongside Council and its partners, to providing safe and legal goods at the markets.
She added: “Council is committed to eliminating the sale of fake, illegal or unsafe goods at its markets and continues to work with the relevant authorities to do so. As part of the Real Deal scheme, shoppers should be assured that goods and services purchased at any council markets are safe, genuine, reliable and legal.
“The Walled City Market operates in Derry’s Guildhall Square on the first Saturday of each month and the Strabane Market operates in the Courtyard of the Alley Theatre on the last Friday of each month. Both markets have been well received by local traders, local shoppers and visitors to both areas each month.
“We believe this new quality standard will further strengthen our offer to shoppers and provide a reassurance that the goods on sale at both council markets are the ‘real deal’. By setting this standard we also expect to encourage local traders, food producers and craft workers to get more involved with our markets and help set a standard for trading.”
Patricia Lennon, of the Real Deal campaign, said: “We are delighted to welcome Derry’s Walled City Market and Strabane Market into the Real Deal scheme. By signing the Real Deal Charter, both markets can now display the Real Deal logo, giving an assurance to their shoppers and to market traders that this is a fake-free zone. It also sends a clear signal to any would-be traders in counterfeit goods that they are not welcome here. We would like to thank the Council’s markets team and the Trading Standards service for working together to protect consumers and local businesses from the harm caused by the trade in counterfeit goods.
Damien Doherty, Chief Inspector of the Trading Standards Service, added: “Fake items may appear attractive but consumers should be aware of the wider implications and the risks to their own safety. There has been a worrying increase in potentially dangerous fake goods being sold to consumers such as electrical equipment, toys, personal care products and medicines.
“Counterfeit goods are big business, a drain on the economy, cost jobs and are closely linked to organised crime both in NI and abroad. Counterfeiting and piracy also cause considerable damage to legitimate businesses.”
“This partnership with Derry City and Strabane District Council is a positive example of how agencies can work together to promote law-abiding market activity providing benefits for customers, traders and communities and reducing opportunities for criminal activity.”
For information on the Walled City Market or Strabane Market visit Facebook at www.facebook.com/whatsonderrystrabane/ or follow @Walledmarket on Twitter.